Kodak, Kingsbury ink deal on touch-screen sensors

Eastman Kodak Co. and Kingsbury Corp. have entered into an agreement to produce next-generation touch-screen sensors.

As part of the agreement, Kingsbury will open a manufacturing facility in Building 318 at Eastman Business Park this year. The company will use the facility to produce touch screen sensors that use Kodak’s silver halide technology.

Kingsbury officials said the company also will work with customers who wish integrate the technology at their own facilities. Kodak will provide Kingsbury with chemicals, substrates and technical support, while assisting in the marketing and sale of the sensors.

“The new manufacturing and marketing partnership between Kingsbury and Kodak represents a major milestone in the scale up, commercialization, and roll-out of touch sensor films to meet the growing global demand for these products,” said William Pollock, president and CEO of Kingsbury, in a statement.

Last December, Pollock gave up his majority interest in Optimation Technology Inc. to fund Kingsbury, a storied New Hampshire machinery company he purchased out of bankruptcy for $3.1 million in February 2012.

Kingsbury set up shop in a facility next to Optimation’s industrial center on Lexington Avenue. Pollock remains CEO of Optimation, as well.

Pollock said Kingsbury, which builds high-speed assembly machines, will work with Optimation, which designs Web-based manufacturing systems, to design and execute the new touch-screen manufacturing plant at Eastman Business Park.

Kingsbury currently has some 60 employees. Pollock said the company will add 50 employees within the next six to 12 months and as many as 150 employees within the next three to four years.

Terry Taber, Kodak chief technology officer, said the company has aligned itself with a manufacturing partner who will uses Kodak’s silver deposition technologies.

“This agreement … is another major step forward for Kodak’s functional printing initiative, which represents a key growth area for Kodak,” he said.